Yvonne Lee and Prudence Ho were first to report that one of China’s integrated oil giants is making moves to either sell a stake in or form an alliance to operate its system of 30,000 filling stations and 23,000 attached convenience stores.

HONG KONG– China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, is in talks with numerous Chinese companies, including Tencent Holdings Ltd., about either selling a stake or forming alliances in its gas-station-to-convenience store business, as part of the state-owned oil giant’s moves to reform itself.

Sinopec is seeking to sell at least a 10% stake in Sinopec Sales Co., a $56 billion business it refers to as its marketing operation, and to form marketing partnerships, people familiar with the matter said. It has already signed an agreement with Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun Group, one of the people said.

Sinopec Sales has more than 30,000 gas stations and 23,000 convenience stores across China.

Sinopec said earlier this year that it is seeking domestic and foreign investors to help make Sinopec Sales “market-oriented” and to facilitate innovation.

But people familiar with the matter said that Sinopec’s plan for Sinopec Sales could also include alliances. Sinopec plans to finalize the terms of its tie-ups in coming weeks and then restructure Sinopec Sales by the end of November before preparing for an initial public offering of the unit, one of the people said. No decision has been made about where the IPO would take place.

Other companies in talks about Sinopec Sales include state-owned insurer China Life Insurance Company Ltd., ENN Energy Holdings Ltd., which distributes gas to people’s homes, and private-equity firm Hopu Investment Management Co., people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Sinopec recently signed a partnership framework agreement with Fosun, one of the people said.

Unlike in the U.S., in China most gas stations are owned by three state companies: Sinopec, China National Petroleum Corp., China’s largest oil company, and China National Offshore Oil Corp.

In recent months, other Chinese state-owned companies have announced reform plans. They include conglomerate Citic Group, which has been absorbed by its Hong Kong-listed unit, giving foreign investors easy access to it. Shares listed in China are subject to quotas for foreign investors, but Hong Kong has no such limitations.

China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, a government agency that manages state firms, also announced last month that six state companies, including food trader China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp., or Cofco Corp. will be subject to reform.

P.R. Venkat contributed to this article.

Write to Yvonne Lee at yvonne.lee@wsj.com and Prudence Ho at prudence.ho@wsj.com

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